Pastiches of Superman are so common in comic books, that you could build an entire team of off-brand Supermen. Though Marvel’s unstable Sentry might be more powerful, their most well-known riff on the Man of Steel has to be Hyperion. The Squadron Supreme’s leader has endured as a character because he straddles the line between hero and villain. His intentions have usually been good, but those good intentions lead him to create a dictatorship. That can’t be said of his alternate universe self. The Hyperion of Exiles was a monster who wanted to conquer the multiverse. Luckily, a single member of the X-Men named Beak managed to defeat the power-hungry villain, and he did it all without powers.

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Beak is one of the strangest X-Men ever conceived. Created by writer Grant Morrison, Beak’s mutation is entirely negative. Beak’s X-gene turned him into a weird-looking bird person and made his bones hollow and brittle. While he can technically fly, it is slow, clumsy, and entirely useless. It’s all these traits that made it a surprise when he was spirited away to join the Exiles, a group of dimension-hopping heroes who were tasked with repairing various alternate dimensions by a being known as the Timebroker. Most of the Exiles made fun of Beak and insulted him for being useless. Worse yet, was the torment of the Exiles’ violent counterpart, Weapon X. Eventually, Beak was ‘sent home’ by the Timebroker, which was where things went south for the team.

Unbeknownst to the Exiles, the Timebroker was really a group of insect people who had discovered a crystal palace capable of accessing any point in the Marvel multiverse. All of the heroes who were supposedly killed or sent home after their time with the Exiles or Weapon X were really kept in stasis within the crystal palace, which becomes problematic when Weapon X’s former leader, an evil version of Hyperion, wakes up from his stasis. King Hyperion immediately takes over the Crystal Palace and uses it to mess with the Exiles. The Exiles eventually discover this and fight Hyperion across the multiverse. The insects who once controlled the Crystal Palace then decide to awaken the only person capable of defeating Hyperion, Beak.

A bewildered Beak wonders what he could possibly do to defeat someone as powerful as Hyperion while the Exiles fight a losing battle. Then Beak realizes something important. He may not have any powers, but there is one thing he is good at; making friends. Using the Crystal Palace, Beak recruits the help of two good versions of Hyperion, who quickly put their evil counterpart down, saving the multiverse.

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Beak would stick around with the Exiles for a little while longer, but he would eventually be returned back to the proper Marvel Universe. Fortunately for him, he would return after the House of M event removed the X-gene from most mutants. Having earned his happily ever after, Beak reunites with his wife and children as a normal human.

Though Beak might not have been the focus of Exiles, his arc is compelling. The problem with superheroes such as Superman is that they’re so powerful, that they’re very rarely the underdog. This is what initially set Marvel heroes apart from their DC counterparts. Spider-Man was strong, certainly, but he had his limits and often lost fights. Beak takes this idea and amplifies it. He has no powers, he’s not super smart, and he has very few notable skills. Contrasted with Marvel’s evil Superman, Beak should have no hope of winning. Readers probably know that Beak and the Exiles will win against King Hyperion, but the fun is in seeing how.

Ultimately, Beak is the perfect example of a Marvel hero. He might look weird and he might not always win, but his heart and desire to help others make him a true hero.

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About The Author


Evan Mullicane
(362 Articles Published)

Evan D. Mullicane is an editor, critic, and author based out of California’s Bay Area. He received his bachelor’s degree in creative writing from San Francisco State University in 2016. In his free time, he enjoys reading graphic novels and writing fantasy.

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